Wild Poppy Fabrics: the joy of purposeful fabric buying

There’s a very special fabric seller on Destasher. Amber, founder of Wild Poppy Fabrics, lives in Leicestershire with her husband and their two young children, Poppy and Patrick. She’s been sewing since the age of 10, when she randomly asked for a sewing machine for Christmas, and still loves nothing more than making a pretty dress or tackling a complicated project.

It was her own experience of buying fabric that inspired Wild Poppy Fabrics. As a mum, Amber wanted to make her sewing budget stretch further, so she started searching for secondhand fabrics online. But she found it surprisingly difficult to find suitable lengths for dressmaking, and the lack of useful filters made the search frustrating.

That led to an idea: create a curated online shop for preloved fabric, making it easier for sewists to find what they actually need. For Amber, purposeful fabric buying is about more than saving money, it’s about making use of materials that already exist and reducing the demand for new textile production.

And Wild Poppy has a personal connection too: the business is named after Amber’s daughter, Poppy, inspired by the giant poppy that grew in her childhood garden.

Here are Amber’s thoughts on purposeful fabric buying, in her own words.

What kind of fabrics do you seek out to buy and resell?

My mission is to encourage dressmakers to sew with second hand fabrics instead of new. There are so many beautiful secondhand fabrics waiting to be sewn into garments, we really don't need to buy new fabric every time we want to sew up a new garment. Wild Poppy helps sewists sew more sustainably.

For my shop, I make sure that all of the fabrics are more than 1.5 meters in length so that they can be used for dressmaking. As a sewist, I have found it so frustrating to search for second hand fabrics when the length isn't put in the title or description. Many second hand fabric pieces are leftover from people’s projects, meaning they’re not big enough to make clothes from. I want to make it easy for my customers to find fabric that’s perfect for their handmade wardrobe. I’m drawn to pretty fabrics and floral prints, although I’m trying to keep my shop diverse. I also look for fabrics that are perfect for beginners like cotton. I want to help make sewing accessible for sewists who are new to the hobby.

What does "buying fabric purposely" mean to you?

There are so many beautiful fabrics in the world, it can be so hard not to buy them all! There is this big fear of missing out when it comes to fabric shopping. When it's gone, it's gone! But unfortunately we simply don’t have the time to make all that our hearts desire. Meanwhile, our fabric stash pile just keeps getting higher!

To try and make sure that I only buy the fabric that I need, I really think about my sewing projects. I try to have a bit of a plan before I make my fabric purchases. I have a Pinterest board for sewing inspiration and a list of sewing patterns that I really want to sew per season. Once I am ready for a project, I buy fabric specifically for that make. I find that this limits waste as I’m buying the exact fabric I need, and it won't sit in my stash for years. If there is fabric left over, I have a collection of smaller projects that are perfect for birthday gifts.

Has the way you buy fabric changed over the years?

When I first started earning money with my Saturday job as a teen, all my money would go on fabric! I would get so excited when fabric parcels arrived and my fabric stash became huge. My parents definitely got fed up with all the deliveries! But now that I have to spend my money on more sensible things (sadly), I’m a lot more picky over my fabric purchases and buy a lot less! I don’t have a lot of time to sew, so when I do make time, I pick a pattern and then find the perfect fabric match from secondhand marketplaces. It does take longer to find secondhand fabrics, but it saves money and my purchases feel even more special.

What excites you most about working with preloved fabrics?

I love it because I feel so proud of myself that I have saved something from landfill and turned someone's unused textiles into something beautiful. Sometimes these fabrics have beautiful stories behind them. For example, I recently purchased 100% silk chiffon fabric from a mental health charity.

The chiffon was from a dressmaker who loved sewing with silk! Her stash was huge and her family donated the fabric to the charity when she passed away. I can't wait to make something beautiful with this fabric, even if it does feel a bit scary to cut into!

Does using reclaimed fabric change how you sew?

What's interesting is that since using reclaimed fabrics, I take a lot more care over my makes. I think this is because I know the fabric is one of a kind. I can’t buy more fabric if I cut a piece wrong!

I also want to do justice to the sewist who I got the fabric from. Even though they have decided not to use the fabric, it is still a piece that they once loved and treasured.

How do you decide whether a piece of fabric is worth bringing home?

Before buying fabric, I definitely think about the fabric content. I prefer sewing with cotton as it is so much easier to sew with and is lovely to wear! I also think about how much I would wear a handmade garment from that fabric. I have bought fabric in the past which is way beyond my capabilities as a sewist (the sequin fabric in my stash is giving me the evils!), so I now make sure that I buy fabric that I won't be too scared to cut or sew with.

I am quite strict with myself nowadays. I put myself on fabric buying bans, and I normally stick to one project at a time. Even with my shop, I have to stop myself looking at new fabrics to buy (mainly because I’m running out of storage space and my husband rolls his eyes whenever a fabric delivery arrives!)

What is your favourite thing in your stash right now?

Oh, definitely the gorgeous chiffon fabric! I didn’t follow my own rule and find a pattern before the fabric, naughty me! There are only 2 meters so I need to be clever with choosing a pattern to make the most of it! But I would love to make a bias slip dress… IF there is enough fabric!

Check out Wild Poppy Fabrics on Destasher and Instagram.